Pretty much Stranger Things if its creators were obsessed with Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve instead of Spielberg and Zemeckis. It’s a really cool idea for a mystery/sci-fi melodrama, but also a very demanding show to watch. That’s not a flaw, but you should know going into it that this isn’t the type of show where half watching and half texting will be a rewarding experience. I think there’s just the right amount of handholding, but its puzzlebox quality and plethora of characters don’t make things easier. Still, it’s a lot of fun to watch once you get what it’s doing, with plot twists and character writing being among its major strengths. The emotional peaks that are reached here are quite impressive, though the melodrama can occasionally lead to the use of cheap, overused tropes. There’s also not a single weak link in the cast, which is quite impressive when you have multiple people playing the same character. The directing is pretty amazing, there’s almost a David Fincher-esque quality to how this show builds atmosphere through the constant rain, fog and forest shots, which is often enhanced with its ominous, droning, Villeneuve-esque score. Sometimes the show will just stop and give you these beautiful atmospheric montages (often paired with a sad song), which are among my favourite scenes. They really spared no expense in regards to production, the sets and production value are consistently impressive and don’t have that typical ‘made for streaming’ feel to it. Overall, it’s a pretty amazing, intricate show that’s easily recommended to people who are fans of mature science fiction. Sometimes you have to give a little leeway with the logic, but that’s almost always the case with stories about time travel. You’re bound to run into issues of causality, paradoxality and memory once you have the same people from different timelines interacting with each other, but this show handles it about as well as it could.
S01: 8.5/10 S02: 9/10 (drops most of the cheap tropes; only held back by some bad VFX work) S03: 8/10 (completely sticks the landing, the new plot device introduced at the end of s02 doesn’t break the show. The VFX continue to be an issue, and this season could’ve benefitted from a few more additional episodes)
Review by JordyVIP 8BlockedParent2023-09-11T21:42:07Z— updated 2023-10-01T12:32:40Z
Pretty much Stranger Things if its creators were obsessed with Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve instead of Spielberg and Zemeckis. It’s a really cool idea for a mystery/sci-fi melodrama, but also a very demanding show to watch. That’s not a flaw, but you should know going into it that this isn’t the type of show where half watching and half texting will be a rewarding experience. I think there’s just the right amount of handholding, but its puzzlebox quality and plethora of characters don’t make things easier. Still, it’s a lot of fun to watch once you get what it’s doing, with plot twists and character writing being among its major strengths. The emotional peaks that are reached here are quite impressive, though the melodrama can occasionally lead to the use of cheap, overused tropes. There’s also not a single weak link in the cast, which is quite impressive when you have multiple people playing the same character. The directing is pretty amazing, there’s almost a David Fincher-esque quality to how this show builds atmosphere through the constant rain, fog and forest shots, which is often enhanced with its ominous, droning, Villeneuve-esque score. Sometimes the show will just stop and give you these beautiful atmospheric montages (often paired with a sad song), which are among my favourite scenes. They really spared no expense in regards to production, the sets and production value are consistently impressive and don’t have that typical ‘made for streaming’ feel to it. Overall, it’s a pretty amazing, intricate show that’s easily recommended to people who are fans of mature science fiction. Sometimes you have to give a little leeway with the logic, but that’s almost always the case with stories about time travel. You’re bound to run into issues of causality, paradoxality and memory once you have the same people from different timelines interacting with each other, but this show handles it about as well as it could.
S01: 8.5/10
S02: 9/10 (drops most of the cheap tropes; only held back by some bad VFX work)
S03: 8/10 (completely sticks the landing, the new plot device introduced at the end of s02 doesn’t break the show. The VFX continue to be an issue, and this season could’ve benefitted from a few more additional episodes)